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Measure G Provided $4.9 Million for Capital and Operating Expenses Last Year

Post Date:03/22/2017 2:50 PM

Neighborhood street paving and public safety accounted for nearly half of the $4.9 million in Measure G funds spent by the City during the 2015-16 fiscal year, according to the Annual Community Report released this week.

Measure G, also referred to as the Local Revenue Measure, was initially approved by 65 percent of City voters in 2006, then extended for another eight years in the 2014 election. The measure established a one-half percent sales tax, which would be used to preserve essential services for the community. Essential services include bike lanes and sidewalks; public safety; neighborhood and street paving; code enforcement; flood protection; senior programs and other vital services and capital improvement projects.

Spending priorities laid out in the measure help guide the Citizen’s Revenue Enhancement Oversight Committee, which makes recommendations to the Council about how the money should be spent.

Last year, 24 percent of the $4.9 million was directed toward neighborhood street paving, which included improvements to bike lanes. The next biggest expenditure (23 percent) was directed toward public safety, which included funding for downtown police officers. Other targets for the money included:

Parks and recreation/senior programs and facilities (14 percent)

Flood protection (13 percent)

Open space preservation (12 percent)

Bicycle and pedestrian improvements (5 percent)

Code enforcement (5 percent)

Traffic congestion relief/safety improvements (4 percent)

A report in brief was included in all March city utility bills and the full report is available online at www.slocity.org/budget.